If you know comedy, you know Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling. He was Howard Stern's head writer for 15 years and has a show on Stern's Sirius XM Howard 101 satellite radio. He tours the country. But did you know he is not a comedian?

"I'm not a comedian. I'm a joke teller," Martling says, speaking from his home in Bayville, N.J. He estimates his average is about 200 jokes per show, give or take 50. He always has audience participation. If you tell Martling a joke he has never heard before, you get a T-shirt saying "I Stumped the Jokeman."

You will be able to see Martling whip them out (T-shirts and jokes) at the Bethlehem Sands Nov. 7. He says, "I'm thrilled to be back in the area. I've always loved Pennsylvania." He remembers selling out the 500 capacity Zodiac (later Starz) nightclub some years ago.

"At my show you don't learn anything and there are no opinions on politics. You won't hear about problems. I'm not that kind of animal. It's just fun." Martling is open and unashamed about working "blue," so you can expect to hear a high level of raunchy material as he tells "the stupid d*** jokes that I love."

That does not stop people — of all ages and both sexes — from coming to see him. "The crowd varies. It's all whether you like jokes. They are from 20 to 80 years old. You either love or hate the jokes. I'm not out to make people retch, or to be disgusting just for the sake of it."

Martling has many albums and DVDs; he has been releasing them for many years and each hash about 235 to 265 jokes. There are even two gentler ones for kids — "Jokemaster Jr.: For Ages 3-12" and "Grossmaster Jr.: For Ages 12-16." There is also a "Jokemaster Jr." toy, which Martling says has been used with some success in communicating with autistic children. "Even if they don't understand the jokes, they like my stupid laugh."

Martling describes his satellite radio show "Jackie's Joke Hunt" as "Telling a lot of dirty jokes, one after another. We talk a bit, and listeners call in. It is in its ninth year, and we love it." He tells anecdotes about his past, hosts a few games and brings on guests. He does not have figures on how many people listen to the show. However, he says, more than 27,000 people receive his tweeted joke of the day.

Since 1979, you can call Jackie's Dial-a-Joke at 516-922-9463, which he says used to get 10-15,000 thousand calls a day. Here's one: "A drunk sees two nuns walking toward him. At the last minute, the nuns split up to walk on either side of the drunk. He asks, 'How did she do that?'"

The Joke Man got his start with Howard Stern. He sent him three comedy LPs when the shock jock joined New York City's WNBC-AM in 1982, and Stern invited him on air. Martling worked for free for three years, but by 1986 he had become Stern' head writer for the radio show, four TV shows, and three pay-per-views.

Fans have speculated endlessly about why Martling left Stern. He says the answer is simple. "I asked for more money and they said no." He says there are no hard feelings overall. Stern has dedicated specials to Martling, and "Joke Hunt" is on Stern's satellite network. Stern invented the phrase "F Jackie" to describe Martling's departure, but it was repeated endlessly and became a catchphrase for any occasion. Martling's 2000 live CD is called "F Jackie."

Leaving Stern was a boon for his health. His work on the radio show was five days a week, and, combined with personal appearances, Martling has said he never could take a nap. "I always could — I just didn't know how." He does now. "Hell, yes, you wouldn't believe it. When I get up I wonder when I can lie down again."

He also used alcohol to unwind. "I had a thick neck and a beer belly. I quit drinking 13 years ago," he says, but his weight did not go down right away. "They invented this thing called food. I couldn't taste it when I was drinking." Now, however, he has kept his high school weight or below for five or six years. "I am a madman, swimming, riding my bike 10 miles a day, on the treadmill an hour and 20minutes, and I am careful what I eat." He says his motivation is having a pretty girlfriend. "Some people say 'Follow the money'. I say, 'Follow the broads'."

Martling has been asked many times how many jokes he knows; he will give an answer like "1000 to infinity." He says he will never run out of them. "Of the people that come to see me, even if they know 90 percent of them, they are dying to hear the other 10 per cent they haven't heard."

"The thing is, no one remembers them. I was at Catch a Rising Star [NYC comedy club] in the '70s. I got on stage drunk and told the oldest, stalest joke I knew. Afterwards, the MC told me that was a really funny joke. He hadn't heard it."

Martling nearly always has a big smile when he is photographed, but he claims, "Half the time I am a miserable bastard. Nobody is happy all the time. People used to say to my girlfriend, 'Jackie is so funny!' She said, 'Why don't you come home with us sometime?'"

You won't see any of that at the Sands, however. Martling says, "I love getting up and telling jokes. If I don't do it for a while, I'm ready to go."